productive day today. working on three or four projects at once while allowing two problem projects dry. Need to give time to those to figure out what to do next. one actually looks pretty good, but the color balance is way off (see below).

Also working on a simplistic beach scene and desert panorama that I think will be pretty nice, too.

I related knews, this weak we r gett'n the house tented. Plus I'm taking the older boy camping w/ the scouts. Good thing getting the kamping stuff together is easy, everything is awl 2gether in a cupboard and bin. cause the cleaning owt the house in a pain.

not gonna lie, i have no idea what getting a house tented means.

In the SouthWest it is also a euphamism for renting out your house to the Meth factory.

Hey, a man's gotta make a living somehow...

I also have no idea what tenting a house means, but what do I know? On the other hand, he mentions camping w/the scouts, so I'm picturing dome tents in the living room.

on the other hand, I could use some extra cash, lay offs are coming, so renting the place out as a meth lab does have a certain amount of appeal.

Also, the calculation for severences came out earlier this week. Everyone has calculated their amount. Since I've been here forever, I would get 50 weeks. All of a sudden everyone wants to be one of the ones that goes.

do you get to claim unemployment after that if you haven't found a job yet?

best scenario, you get the 50 weeks, then they hire you back.

Actually, as I understand it, you get to file for unemployment right away. The severance is a benifit your earned for having worked here that long. Since you are no longer working, you are now unemployeed. Hello 480 a week for doing nothing. Although that is taxable. So there are a number of people close to retirement, just waiting for some kind of package. Another young mom, w a 9mo old, who's husband works FT in IT. sure would suck if they were let go. wink wink nudge nudge. They are actually hoping for it.

yeah, that's a good deal for sure. do you get health insurance during the severance period?

Yes, I would for 15 months. At a "Subsidized rate" Amount of subsidizing not published. Now the one question arises, can you get unemployement and Social Security at the same time? Not me, too young, but still interesting to know. We aren't given a retirement anuity, just a lump sum, and roll it into an IRA.

also went took the first steps this week toward documenting flamenco dancers. went to my girlfriend's class and met the instructor, then went to my second performance last night to draw. couldn't draw much, though, because it was dark (duh!), but I got some good pics to work off.

Next step, establish a greater relationship with the school here to connect with various schools in Seville. I have lots of confidence in this project. I honestly think it'll be the greatest challenge of my life, and I'm super excited for it.

Blurry, I know (my camera isn't that good)

Actually the blurry of the dress makes for a good sense of movement. I like it. If her face was more still it would rate excellent. Otherwise a nice pic, good framing.

productive day today. working on three or four projects at once while allowing two problem projects dry. Need to give time to those to figure out what to do next. one actually looks pretty good, but the color balance is way off (see below).

Also working on a simplistic beach scene and desert panorama that I think will be pretty nice, too.

I'm being more expressive lately. I think this is a good thing.

this I like a lot. Best to date, IMHO.

Thanks. Gotta add a light orange tinge somehow to the upper left to balance out the cool colors (i.e. - I need to add more warm colors and that's the best spot to do it). Just not sure how to do it just yet.

also went took the first steps this week toward documenting flamenco dancers. went to my girlfriend's class and met the instructor, then went to my second performance last night to draw. couldn't draw much, though, because it was dark (duh!), but I got some good pics to work off.

Next step, establish a greater relationship with the school here to connect with various schools in Seville. I have lots of confidence in this project. I honestly think it'll be the greatest challenge of my life, and I'm super excited for it.

Blurry, I know (my camera isn't that good)

Actually the blurry of the dress makes for a good sense of movement. I like it. If her face was more still it would rate excellent. Otherwise a nice pic, good framing.

I'm less concerned about the photo really. I took it in order to paint it. I want to have a small portfolio ready for when I get to Seville. I want to show the artists and schools there that I'm serious.

I related knews, this weak we r gett'n the house tented. Plus I'm taking the older boy camping w/ the scouts. Good thing getting the kamping stuff together is easy, everything is awl 2gether in a cupboard and bin. cause the cleaning owt the house in a pain.

not gonna lie, i have no idea what getting a house tented means.

In the SouthWest it is also a euphamism for renting out your house to the Meth factory.

Hey, a man's gotta make a living somehow...

I also have no idea what tenting a house means, but what do I know? On the other hand, he mentions camping w/the scouts, so I'm picturing dome tents in the living room.

on the other hand, I could use some extra cash, lay offs are coming, so renting the place out as a meth lab does have a certain amount of appeal.

Also, the calculation for severences came out earlier this week. Everyone has calculated their amount. Since I've been here forever, I would get 50 weeks. All of a sudden everyone wants to be one of the ones that goes.

do you get to claim unemployment after that if you haven't found a job yet?

best scenario, you get the 50 weeks, then they hire you back.

Actually, as I understand it, you get to file for unemployment right away. The severance is a benifit your earned for having worked here that long. Since you are no longer working, you are now unemployeed. Hello 480 a week for doing nothing. Although that is taxable. So there are a number of people close to retirement, just waiting for some kind of package. Another young mom, w a 9mo old, who's husband works FT in IT. sure would suck if they were let go. wink wink nudge nudge. They are actually hoping for it.

yeah, that's a good deal for sure. do you get health insurance during the severance period?

Yes, I would for 15 months. At a "Subsidized rate" Amount of subsidizing not published. Now the one question arises, can you get unemployement and Social Security at the same time? Not me, too young, but still interesting to know. We aren't given a retirement anuity, just a lump sum, and roll it into an IRA.

so wait, the severance, you have to roll it into an IRA? All of it? Some of it? Wouldn't you just use it to supplement your unemployment?

Either way, 50 weeks to add to a retirement account is pretty freaking sweet. That's a lot of dough.

I actually asked to get laid off when I left the hospital. I worked out a severance and got that plus unemployment at the same time. What they did for the severance is kept me on the payroll for that time instead of giving me a lump sum.

I related knews, this weak we r gett'n the house tented. Plus I'm taking the older boy camping w/ the scouts. Good thing getting the kamping stuff together is easy, everything is awl 2gether in a cupboard and bin. cause the cleaning owt the house in a pain.

not gonna lie, i have no idea what getting a house tented means.

In the SouthWest it is also a euphamism for renting out your house to the Meth factory.

Hey, a man's gotta make a living somehow...

I also have no idea what tenting a house means, but what do I know? On the other hand, he mentions camping w/the scouts, so I'm picturing dome tents in the living room.

on the other hand, I could use some extra cash, lay offs are coming, so renting the place out as a meth lab does have a certain amount of appeal.

Also, the calculation for severences came out earlier this week. Everyone has calculated their amount. Since I've been here forever, I would get 50 weeks. All of a sudden everyone wants to be one of the ones that goes.

do you get to claim unemployment after that if you haven't found a job yet?

best scenario, you get the 50 weeks, then they hire you back.

Actually, as I understand it, you get to file for unemployment right away. The severance is a benifit your earned for having worked here that long. Since you are no longer working, you are now unemployeed. Hello 480 a week for doing nothing. Although that is taxable. So there are a number of people close to retirement, just waiting for some kind of package. Another young mom, w a 9mo old, who's husband works FT in IT. sure would suck if they were let go. wink wink nudge nudge. They are actually hoping for it.

yeah, that's a good deal for sure. do you get health insurance during the severance period?

Yes, I would for 15 months. At a "Subsidized rate" Amount of subsidizing not published. Now the one question arises, can you get unemployement and Social Security at the same time? Not me, too young, but still interesting to know. We aren't given a retirement anuity, just a lump sum, and roll it into an IRA.

so wait, the severance, you have to roll it into an IRA? All of it? Some of it? Wouldn't you just use it to supplement your unemployment?

Either way, 50 weeks to add to a retirement account is pretty freaking sweet. That's a lot of dough.

I actually asked to get laid off when I left the hospital. I worked out a severance and got that plus unemployment at the same time. What they did for the severance is kept me on the payroll for that time instead of giving me a lump sum.

Actually the severance would be paid out taxable as a lump sum at the time of termination. At least that's my understanding right now. Plus about 2 months vacation. I also have a retirement lump sum. That would have to be rolled into an IRA. Same as my 401K. Since I've been w the company for over 20 years, those are significant, although somewhat less than the origonal retirement plan benifits. But sitting at lunch with some of the retirement guys, the conclusion was this is just the first round. That further reductions might be coming in a couple more years. I'm thinking that might be better timing than right now.

productive day today. working on three or four projects at once while allowing two problem projects dry. Need to give time to those to figure out what to do next. one actually looks pretty good, but the color balance is way off (see below).

Also working on a simplistic beach scene and desert panorama that I think will be pretty nice, too.

I'm being more expressive lately. I think this is a good thing.

this I like a lot. Best to date, IMHO.

Thanks. Gotta add a light orange tinge somehow to the upper left to balance out the cool colors (i.e. - I need to add more warm colors and that's the best spot to do it). Just not sure how to do it just yet.

I see what you're saying, now that you pointed it out. Another thought would be to make all the background cool or monochromatic, and warm up the guitar and jacket to make him stand out from the background. Can you play with on the computer. Of course I'm notorious for liking strong subjects in photos/paintings. Others prefer more subtlety. Also, the other trap is to over think/analyze something, when the thing to do is let the other side of the brain take over. In other words, I just screwed up your whole painting.

I related knews, this weak we r gett'n the house tented. Plus I'm taking the older boy camping w/ the scouts. Good thing getting the kamping stuff together is easy, everything is awl 2gether in a cupboard and bin. cause the cleaning owt the house in a pain.

not gonna lie, i have no idea what getting a house tented means.

In the SouthWest it is also a euphamism for renting out your house to the Meth factory.

Hey, a man's gotta make a living somehow...

I also have no idea what tenting a house means, but what do I know? On the other hand, he mentions camping w/the scouts, so I'm picturing dome tents in the living room.

on the other hand, I could use some extra cash, lay offs are coming, so renting the place out as a meth lab does have a certain amount of appeal.

Also, the calculation for severences came out earlier this week. Everyone has calculated their amount. Since I've been here forever, I would get 50 weeks. All of a sudden everyone wants to be one of the ones that goes.

do you get to claim unemployment after that if you haven't found a job yet?

best scenario, you get the 50 weeks, then they hire you back.

Actually, as I understand it, you get to file for unemployment right away. The severance is a benifit your earned for having worked here that long. Since you are no longer working, you are now unemployeed. Hello 480 a week for doing nothing. Although that is taxable. So there are a number of people close to retirement, just waiting for some kind of package. Another young mom, w a 9mo old, who's husband works FT in IT. sure would suck if they were let go. wink wink nudge nudge. They are actually hoping for it.

yeah, that's a good deal for sure. do you get health insurance during the severance period?

Yes, I would for 15 months. At a "Subsidized rate" Amount of subsidizing not published. Now the one question arises, can you get unemployement and Social Security at the same time? Not me, too young, but still interesting to know. We aren't given a retirement anuity, just a lump sum, and roll it into an IRA.

so wait, the severance, you have to roll it into an IRA? All of it? Some of it? Wouldn't you just use it to supplement your unemployment?

Either way, 50 weeks to add to a retirement account is pretty freaking sweet. That's a lot of dough.

I actually asked to get laid off when I left the hospital. I worked out a severance and got that plus unemployment at the same time. What they did for the severance is kept me on the payroll for that time instead of giving me a lump sum.

Actually the severance would be paid out taxable as a lump sum at the time of termination. At least that's my understanding right now. Plus about 2 months vacation. I also have a retirement lump sum. That would have to be rolled into an IRA. Same as my 401K. Since I've been w the company for over 20 years, those are significant, although somewhat less than the origonal retirement plan benifits. But sitting at lunch with some of the retirement guys, the conclusion was this is just the first round. That further reductions might be coming in a couple more years. I'm thinking that might be better timing than right now.

Later is better than sooner, regardless. But by then it may be beneficial to hold on until retirement...

You got me looking and I get 32 weeks of severance pay, my skimpy IRA and 401K. I'm glad I'm vested, but I wish I was on the pension plan that my senior counterparts have.

I got to play tour guide to my program manager from DC this week. In addition to the giant meeting on Wednesday, we've gone around and I've shown him just about everything that I am in charge of regarding my program out here. He left about an hour-and-a-half ago and I've been catching up on the major work that I missed this week: i.e. emails, reports, and planning for next week.

productive day today. working on three or four projects at once while allowing two problem projects dry. Need to give time to those to figure out what to do next. one actually looks pretty good, but the color balance is way off (see below).

Also working on a simplistic beach scene and desert panorama that I think will be pretty nice, too.

Thanks. Gotta add a light orange tinge somehow to the upper left to balance out the cool colors (i.e. - I need to add more warm colors and that's the best spot to do it). Just not sure how to do it just yet.

I see what you're saying, now that you pointed it out. Another thought would be to make all the background cool or monochromatic, and warm up the guitar and jacket to make him stand out from the background. Can you play with on the computer. Of course I'm notorious for liking strong subjects in photos/paintings. Others prefer more subtlety. Also, the other trap is to over think/analyze something, when the thing to do is let the other side of the brain take over. In other words, I just screwed up your whole painting.

I've thought of that, but I don't want to change it that much. I may just put another layer of warm colors in the background. I have to let the answer come to me.

productive day today. working on three or four projects at once while allowing two problem projects dry. Need to give time to those to figure out what to do next. one actually looks pretty good, but the color balance is way off (see below).

Also working on a simplistic beach scene and desert panorama that I think will be pretty nice, too.

Super busy weekend. My two sister-in-laws visited from NY, and Maxwell came home from college to help out for the weekend.

Went climbing Friday, cleaned up our last FA, then did a 5.7 just after sunset, and our four star 5.6 by headlamp under a crescent moon and full compliment of stars. Super fun.

Saturday we had our big yard/moving sale. Started carrying stuff out at 6AM and didn't finish until 4:30PM, but made 1350 bones. Shit ton of work...

Sunday I loaded up the truck and took it to the dump, -$65 to empty it. Then I had four peeps for a drum making class from 10-4. Football after that, and much cheering/misery for the Patriots game. Pfft...

The house guests left this morning, and I am just about finished with the nightstand and bed destined for Sacramento; hopefully ready to spray lacquer on Wednesday. Then I can start disassembling the hand tool & assembly room in the shop.

Super busy weekend. My two sister-in-laws visited from NY, and Maxwell came home from college to help out for the weekend.

Went climbing Friday, cleaned up our last FA, then did a 5.7 just after sunset, and our four star 5.6 by headlamp under a crescent moon and full compliment of stars. Super fun.

Saturday we had our big yard/moving sale. Started carrying stuff out at 6AM and didn't finish until 4:30PM, but made 1350 bones. Shit ton of work...

Sunday I loaded up the truck and took it to the dump, -$65 to empty it. Then I had four peeps for a drum making class from 10-4. Football after that, and much cheering/misery for the Patriots game. Pfft...

The house guests left this morning, and I am just about finished with the nightstand and bed destined for Sacramento; hopefully ready to spray lacquer on Wednesday. Then I can start disassembling the hand tool & assembly room in the shop.

Super busy weekend. My two sister-in-laws visited from NY, and Maxwell came home from college to help out for the weekend.

Went climbing Friday, cleaned up our last FA, then did a 5.7 just after sunset, and our four star 5.6 by headlamp under a crescent moon and full compliment of stars. Super fun.

Saturday we had our big yard/moving sale. Started carrying stuff out at 6AM and didn't finish until 4:30PM, but made 1350 bones. Shit ton of work...

Sunday I loaded up the truck and took it to the dump, -$65 to empty it. Then I had four peeps for a drum making class from 10-4. Football after that, and much cheering/misery for the Patriots game. Pfft...

The house guests left this morning, and I am just about finished with the nightstand and bed destined for Sacramento; hopefully ready to spray lacquer on Wednesday. Then I can start disassembling the hand tool & assembly room in the shop.